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Post by texomaev on Jan 20, 2013 19:39:34 GMT -6
Very cool, that is the problem with china scoots nobody will touch them. I don't know why they are just turning down backroom money which is where they make their money anyways. Must be that they have a lot of the brand scoots they sell BROKE BACK THERE  Also if the tires took more than 3 ozs of weight they are crap. The dictation for a good tire is for it not to take more than 3 ozs of weights to balance otherwise it is not made right. When I balanced the tires that came with my trike unbelieveable one took 10oz and the other 8ozs and still I had a bouncey bouncey on the roll. I then got the Kenda 205/65x10 tires which are 3" taller and they are smooth. One took 1 oz and the other 2 ozs plus they are softer nice smooth roll. Alleyoop Alleyoop OK, I found this cool tire comparison calculator, that can handle motorcycle tires. Now what choices should I look at with regard to replacing the OEM 120/70x12 's, or should I stick with the OEM size? I don't mind modifying the fender hardware, in order to raise them if needed. .tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> .tacomaworld.com/forum/tirecalc.php |
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Post by texomaev on Jan 20, 2013 14:47:40 GMT -6
I noticed the shocks were adjustable and at the lowest setting. I raised it up to the next highest, and wow what a difference that made along with lowering the tire pressure to 20psi. Rides much closer to a two wheeler now with regards to leaning into turns. 10 psi was to low, bounced a lot. 30 psi bounced a lot as well. 20 psi seems to be the sweet spot with the out of round tires on the front. I think once these are replaced, I won't have anymore issues with regards to driving at highway speed. Only other thing, I might look into is installing aftermarket steering dampeners just to make potholes not so scary.
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Post by texomaev on Jan 20, 2013 13:47:32 GMT -6
UPDATE: I was able to resolve the problem very easily. Noticed the clamshell portion for the top handlebar shaft was not closed all the way when removing the clamping bolt. Then I noticed that for some odd reason both sides of the clamshell was threaded. Therefore, the bolt was NEVER clamping the shell closed. I purchased a slightly smaller diameter hardened bolt that slid through the clamshell, and used a nylon locking nut. Now It's clamped as tight as it possibly can be, and no more wiggle/slop from the handlebars to the wheels. This made a tremendous difference in the handling of the bike. |
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Post by texomaev on Jan 19, 2013 15:42:17 GMT -6
Take the Clamshell off and file or cut down the space between the slots so that it closes more. Alleyoop Thanks, that sounds like a good plan. |
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Post by texomaev on Jan 19, 2013 13:26:14 GMT -6
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Post by texomaev on Jan 19, 2013 10:44:41 GMT -6
Interesting... been following your "journey" on this and ScootDawg and enjoying parallels to my own. Do you think you gave her a little too much toe in? Sure sounds like it. After balancing all three wheels on mine I have gotten up to 82 mph with hardly any vibration but occasionally get a hard braking induced oscillation in front end so i'm thinkin' a little toe in might be needed. Keep an eye on all of those front end bushings and keep 'em tight-they seem to loosen up after a couple hundred miles of ridin'. Check out ScooterDoc forum for more info on my and others journeys with this beast. 82MPH, Very impressive. I'd settle for a safe ride at 65-70 mph. I might have put a bit more tow in than I should have, but it certainly seems to handle better right now with the tow out adjustment. This is at the moment just from eyeballing it. I've got to obtain some long aluminum rods or something I can use to measure more accurately using the rear wheel for reference. I've not balanced the rear tire yet. Have no clue how to remove a rear motorcycle tire at the moment. If I do get it removed, I've got to find a shop that will actually balance it. No motorcycle shops in my area. |
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Post by texomaev on Jan 19, 2013 9:48:14 GMT -6
Adjusted alignment with Toe IN - Very, very, bad idea, Even low speed was uncontrollable. Readjusted with Tow Out, and the control returned. So now I've got to fine tune the alignment, and get the steering play figured out. It looks to be in the upper area around the handlebars itself. I posted a little video of the drive with the tow in adjustment on the photo/video blog listed in my Signature.....
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Post by texomaev on Jan 19, 2013 8:31:38 GMT -6
While waiting for it to warm up a bit outside to align the front wheels, I've been looking at steering dampers/stabilizers for ATV's. Wondering now if something like this might work for an "On Road" vehicle like this Trike. I have a magnetic mount video camera, I'm going to try and place on the Trike, to capture video of the front wheels, one at a time, so everyone can see/experience what I am having fun with.
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Post by texomaev on Jan 18, 2013 22:23:44 GMT -6
Looking forward to a stable/safe ride for certain. Hope this experience will help others who purchase a similar trike, in their adventure. I don't want to discourage anyone from taking advantage of buying an inexpensive import, but want them to understand, they will have to put in the effort to fine tune them for safety/reliability. Once I've done all my homework/labwork with you guys here in the forum as teachers, I hope to graduate with a 3.0 GPA at least ......  |
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Post by texomaev on Jan 18, 2013 21:23:26 GMT -6
Good point, after all the tweaking is said and done, I suspect these tires are going into the recycle bin. I would welcome getting a larger diameter tire up front, as I'm really worried about coming up on a pothole doing 65mph with these mini donuts up front.
Supposed to be an awesome day tomorrow in Texas, so I hope to make the best of it, and get the front end tweaked, and some body panels removed to begin the crack repair process.
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Post by texomaev on Jan 18, 2013 20:59:35 GMT -6
Got tires balanced today, Both were seriously off. Took long strips of weight to get them to balance out. While the Trike was up in the air, I took the opportunity to nudge around the front end. There is no play on the spindle/hub/wheel but I noticed the lower swing arm at the hub had tremendous front to back play in it. We tightened them up. The wheel alignment is certainly off. With one wheel pointing straight, the other is pointing out away from the trike. Will work on manual alignment tomorrow, as no shop in town was interested in helping. At the same time, I will try to figure out where the play is located in the steering.
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Post by texomaev on Jan 17, 2013 19:45:11 GMT -6
Got the front end all greased up after work, before it got dark on me. Found 12 grease inserts on the front end. Took a whole tube of lithium grease.
I was adjusting the handlebars to my liking, (Knees were hitting them before), and I noticed some left/right play in the steering before the front wheels even start to budge. How does one adjust that out?
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Post by texomaev on Jan 17, 2013 4:13:38 GMT -6
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Post by texomaev on Jan 16, 2013 11:31:05 GMT -6
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Post by texomaev on Jan 15, 2013 23:42:07 GMT -6
Hello all, glad to have been routed to this already informative forum. It's my first Scooter, & Trike. I work at a school district in Texas, who is open to allowing me to teach students how to convert gasoline powered vehicles/machinery over to all electric drive. These projects, and others can be seen on my Photo/Video Blog at: .flickr.com/mbarkley/sets" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">.flickr.com/mbarkley/setsI actually wanted an Electric Scooter, when I found this cool looking Trike, and since there are none of these being produced at the moment with electric drive, I decided to purchase the 300cc I.C.E. model. Maybe someday, we'll convert it over to electric drive in class. |
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